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October, 1914 Lloyds Register of Shipping The 1914 edition of that invaluable shipping annual "Lloyds Register of Shipping" has recently been published. The book contains shipping statistics of great value and interest. One of the tables is particularly pertinent to the discussions which have been going onin this country of late as regards the inspection and classification of ship- ping. This table shows the number and tonnage of vessels classed by each of the classification societies of the world. While 9,648 steamers are classed in Lloyds Register Book, no other institution classes more than 2,833, while all the others come still further in the rear. The. disparity is particularly marked in the cases of steamers of large tonnage. The total tonnage classed by Lloyds Register at the present time, including sailing vessels, approaches 24,000,000 tons, some 45 per cent of which is owned outside the United Kingdom. This is undoubtedly a remarkable international position for Lloyds Reg- ister to have attained, and it raises the question--a very practical and urgent one for our shipping commun- itv--of the conditions and methods which are precedent to such world- wide recognition. No doubt very many causes have contributed to the success of Lloyds Register of Ship- ping in crossing all national frontiers. its constitution--providing for the equal share in its government of all sections of the shipping community, its long history and its able officials have all helped to bring about this achievement. Success has led to fut- ther success, as is the case in all progressive business, and has pro- vided the means whereby alone a ereat classification society can keep in the forefront in these days of big things. Lloyds Register relies at all shipbuilding and other <' important ports entirely upon the services of men who are in its exclusive employ- ment and are not allowed to under- take private business. These compe- tent and experienced officials are paid adequate salaries during active life and are eligible for liberal pensions upon retirement. Consequently, the service of Lloyds Register provides them with a career which would be irrevocably marred and broken by any failure from the high standard oi duty required by the society. More- over, the surveyors to Lloyds Regis- ter are not permitted to have any pe- cuniary or other interest direct or in- direct in any business or industry which could affect or even appear to be liable to affect their perfect impar- tiality. : The activity of naval architects 1s THE MARINE REVIEW always producing fresh designs for economical construction, greater dead weight capacity on a given draft, im- proved machinery and boilers, and so on. Every such proposal is sure of a fair and unbiased consideration from Lloyds Register, for no one in its service is influenced by any consid- eration as to the effect the society's decision will have on his own pecu- niary position. The only thing the staff has to consider is its professional reputation, and there is no inducement for it to depart from the path' of jus- tice, as indicated by the best scien- tific knowledge and experience. First Commercial Trip Commercial traffic between the At- lantic and Pacific oceans by way of the Panama canal was inaugurated on Saturday, Aug. 15, by the government steamship Ancon, which made the trip from entrance to entrance in approximately nine hours, well within the previously estimated time for the passage. of 4 ship through the canal. The . complete trip from the ship's berth at dock No. 9, Cristobal, to the end of the dredged channel, five miles out in the Bay of Panama, was made in approximately 9 hours and 40 minutes. There were no unscheduled delays, and the hand- ling of the vessel in the locks and through the channel sections charac- terized the entire operation as one of the smoothest up to that time. The Ancon carried, as guests of the secretary of war, about 200 people, the list including President Porras and his cabinet and other Panama government officials, the members of the diplomatic corps and_ resident consuls-general, officers of the Tenth infantry and Coast artillery corps, officials of the Panama canal, and a few others. A special train was run, leaving Panama at 5 a. m., on Satur- day, conveying the guests from the Pacific end direct to the dock at Cristobal. The vessel left its berth at about 7:10 a. m., arrived in the Atlantic en- trance at 7:30, and at Gatun locks at 8 o'clock. It entered the lower lock at Gatun at the same hour and passed out of the upper lock on the water of Gatun Lake about one hour and a quarter later. The entrance to the Culebra Cut section at Gamboa was reached at about 11:15, and Cucaracha slide was passed at 12:20 p. m. Pedro Miguel lock was reached at 12:56, and the vessel passed into Miraflores Lake at about 1:19. It entered Miraflores lock at about 1:56, and passed out of the lower lock into the sea channel at 3:20. It arrived off Balboa docks at 4 o'clock, and reached the end of 403 the dredged channel at 4:30. This completed the official trip, and the vessel returned to Balboa, anchoring in the channel at about 5:10 p.m. Peo- ple gathered to witness the passage at various points along the route, and at Balboa-as many as 2,000 were pres- ent. The Ancon is practically a twin ship to the Cristobal. Both were formerly owned by the Boston Steamship Co., and at one time were in the trade between Puget Sound and the Orient under the names of the Shawmut and the Tremont. They were purchased under authority of Congress contained in the Sundry Civil Appropriation Act of May 27, 1909, and were turned over to the United States government on Jan. 1, 1910. At the same time their names were changed, the Shawmut to the Ancon, and the Tremont to the Cristobal. They are steel twin screw steamers of 9,606 gross and 6,195 net tons each, and were constructed by the Maryland Steel Co. They were originally purchased for use as cement carrying ships, and were in that serv- ice, under the management of the Pan- ama Railroad Co., during the period ° of lock construction. The Ancon on its first trip through the canal car- ried a quantity of cargo for delivery at Balboa. Ice Breaker fee Canada The official speed trials of the car ferry and ice-breaking steamer which Cammell, Laird & Co., of Birkenhead, built for the Transcontinental Rail- way Co. of Canada, were successfully completed off the Mersey recently. She is intended for service in the St. Lawrence river between Quebec and Levis, and is arranged for the carriage of passenger and freight trains at all seasons of the year: Her principal dimensions are: Length, 326 feet; beam, 65 feet, with a draught of about 15 feet. The propelling ma- chinery consists of two. sets of triple-expansion condensing engines, steam being supplied by eight single- ended cylindrical boilers working un- der natural draught. "An ice' pro- peller of nickel steel, driven by a compound condensing engine, is fitted at the forward end of the ves- sel. The trains are carried on a tidal deck arranged above the main deck of the vessel, on three lengths of track, the length of each track being 272 feet: The tidal deck rests on castings working up and down on 10 vertical lifting screws on each side, supported on columns, the col- umns being stayed by lattice. but- tresses against longitudinal transverse thrusts. The lifting crews are hung